Corner Office: Defending Corporations As People

Does GE have an asbestos underwear division? Because Jack Welch is going to need a triple-pack after daring to write in the WSJ that, to quote Mitt Romney, corporations are people.

Corporations are people working together toward a shared goal, just as hospitals, schools, farms, restaurants, ballparks and museums are. Yes, the people who invest in, manage and work for corporations are there to make a profit. And yes, corporations may employ some bureaucrats, jerks, cheapskates and even nefarious criminals.
But most individuals working in corporations are regular people, people just like you and your friends and neighbors. People who want to make a living and want to make a difference.
... 

This fact is so obvious that there can only be one conclusion drawn when we hear the pronouncement, "Corporations aren't people"—that it's doublespeak. That is, when people say that corporations aren't people, what they really want to say is, "Business is evil." 

They want to say what they feel, which is that capitalism doesn't work, that it's unfair, and that America needs another system—one that, to quote the president himself, "spreads the wealth around." 

Obviously, we're not in that camp. We know capitalism isn't perfect. But free markets are the best system there is to provide opportunity to those with an idea, or simply the motivation to work their butts off to make their lives better. We also know capitalism can spawn bad behavior; greed is part of the human condition and always will be. That's why regulations and controls exist, as they should. 

But this movement afoot that hates on business is craziness. It will destroy America as we know it because very few jobs get created in an environment that's outright hostile to business. And without jobs, the whole thing falls down. It becomes a welfare state. We become a welfare state. 

If that's what you want, we can't change your mind. But in your efforts, stop hiding behind words. Corporations are people. If you want to put an end to corporations, at least say what you mean.

I love that earnest "say what you mean." As if Pres. Obama and Elizabeth Warren, whom Welch quotes at length are ever going to start doing that. 


It's incredible that anyone has to make such a basic point - plenty of whiny liberals work for big corporations, after all, whinging the whole time - but there you are